17. In that room, the bride of the Lord Jesus found the righteousness of God. What are those righteousnesses? Certainly the sacraments of baptism, as we read, for when John said to Jesus as he came to be baptized: I ought to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me; Jesus replied: Allow it now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness (Matthew 3:14-15). In that room, the bride learned the justifications of the Lord, she understood the plan of God, as it is written: For all the people who heard John, and the tax collectors, justified God, having been baptized with John’s baptism; but the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the plan of God concerning themselves, because they were not baptized by him (Luke 7:29-30). Let us choose what they have rejected, and let us follow the counsel of God, for nothing can be more sublime; for it is by this divine counsel that the forgiveness of sins is obtained. Therefore, when one has learned the justice of the Lord and fears God, they will not be put to shame. Finally, even Paul says: 'I will not be put to shame in anything' (Philippians 1:20).
And because no one can be perfect without the favor of God, nor safe; therefore, he should pray that God may not completely abandon him. For above, David prayed that he should not be abandoned, saying: Do not forsake me, O Lord my God (Psalm 37:22); here he says: Do not forsake me utterly, that is, greatly. Above, perhaps still imperfect and in great turmoil, he feared that he would be abandoned; but here, being stronger now, he does not fear being abandoned to be tested; rather, he prays that he may not be completely forsaken. For God often forsakes those whom he wishes to test: but he completely forsakes those whom he abandons. He completely abandoned Judas: but he did not abandon holy Job, in whose possessions, in whose body he gave power to the devil (Job II, 6); but he did not give power over his soul. For if he had given power over his soul, he would have completely abandoned him. Wasn't Job abandoned for the purpose of being tested? And once tested, he was crowned? Therefore, he abandoned Judas, to whom he said: What you are doing, do quickly (John XIII, 27). For he entirely abandoned the one whom he allowed his wickedness to take effect. And when he saw that the other apostles were troubled because he had said, 'Where I am going, you cannot come' (John 13:33), he added, 'Let not your hearts be troubled' (John 14:1). And further: 'I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also' (John 14:3). Finally, Peter, who was afraid of being abandoned, said in a troubled manner, 'Lord, where are you going?' (John 13:36). The Lord saw him being troubled, and He replied to him: Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow later (Matthew XIV, 30 and 31). Similarly, when he was staggering on the sea, he cried out to Christ; and Christ stretched out his right hand to him, so that he would not perish completely abandoned.
19. However, no one should be inflated because they are never abandoned; or grieve because they are sometimes abandoned; for indeed the Son himself said that he was abandoned, as you have: My God, my God, look upon me; why have you forsaken me? (Psalms 21:1) And yet he was never abandoned by the Father, with whom the Father is always. For it is written: Behold, the hour is already come, that you may be scattered, each one to his own, and leave me alone: but I am not alone, because the Father is with me. (John 16:32). But according to the body in which He was handed over to suffering, that voice proceeded; because we seem to be abandoned when we are in perilous situations. Hence Paul also says of the Father God: 'Who did not spare His own Son, but handed Him over for us all' (Rom. VIII, 32). He seems to have abandoned; because he did not spare, who handed Him over to death: but He did not completely abandon, to whom it is said: 'For you will not abandon my soul to hell, nor will you allow your Holy One to see decay' (Psal. XV, 10).
Sermon 2. Beth.
(Verse 9.) In what way does the young man correct his path? The discussion of the previous eight verses did not fall meaninglessly upon us; therefore, we made an effort to pursue what follows. And first, the interpretation of the second letter, which is Beth, must be considered, which, when translated into Latin, signifies confusion. But the one who corrects his path will not be confused. However, because he who corrects was previously in error (for how can one be corrected if he had not previously deviated from the truth?), certainly being placed in a position of error, and having been captivated by the indulgence and allurements of a luxurious and lascivious youth, when he reaches the sober confines of maturity, he will reflect for a long time, as if confused in mind, on how to rid himself of shameful actions and assume full integrity. He weighs and examines his fluctuating thoughts, forgetting the past and longing for what is before, in order to correct his path and hide the offense of his younger years beneath the serious countenance of mature youth. Wherefore lest anyone should doubt or hesitate, the Prophet gives counsel as if deliberating with him, for we believe that the more sound counsels are, if they appear to be examined with deeper meditation. But the very undertaking of deliberation is distinguished by a learned definition, so that it may remove the convergence of diverse thoughts, saying: In what way shall a young man correct his path? For this is the end of deliberating, by which he corrects his path.
And he answered: By keeping your words. And when he turned well to the Lord, he responded with deliberation, as if this counsel had been discovered by the inspiration of the Lord, so that it would be believed to be a remedy not of human presumption, but of divine favor. For our mind, sprinkled with the seeds of heavenly words, which previously degenerated into weeds, begins to produce better growth and bear fruit. Let us therefore direct our paths, and not follow the winding twists of a serpent. For the ways of the Lord are straight, but the paths of the erring are crooked, of whom it is said: 'Oh, you who have forsaken the straight paths!' (Prov. 2:13) Indeed, the happy harvest extends in an orderly fashion, and the vineyards are set out in a certain pattern: the course of deer is more direct, while that of foxes is circuitous. Therefore, concerning Herod, it is said: 'Go, tell that fox' (Luke 13:32), because he had deviated from the straight path and had not corrected his course in his youth. He is worthy of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, in which sinners are mourned, who refused to take up the yoke of the word in their youth. Therefore the captives have been led away; therefore they are lamented as if they were dead, because they did not know the paths of life, and they did not turn aside from the just works of the dead. Therefore, weeping for the perpetual death of the Jews, Jeremiah says: Good is it for a man, when he bears the yoke from his youth, he shall sit alone and keep silence, because he has taken it upon himself. (Lamentations III, 27 and 28).
3. Not only should we remove the yoke of a word, but we must remove it in youth. For if we remove it late, we begin to have more regret for past sins than to hold on to grace. Therefore, let us anticipate the years of youth with appropriate correction, so that we may each say more: O God, who have fed me since my youth (Gen. 48:15); rather than having the memory of a fall, let us weep, saying: O Lord, remember not the sins of my youth and my ignorance (Psalm 25:7). This is the remedy for weakness, that is the strength of health. The medicine of health is sought for the wound: grace for health. Therefore it says: It is good for a man, when he lifts the yoke in his youth (Lamentations 3:27). However, for him who after the years of his youth has carried the yoke, the perfect good is not attained immediately. For his sins stimulate him, habit of sinning vexes his conscience, and the practice of error makes him unstable. Such a man must struggle for a long time, to abolish in his youth the deep-rooted and long-standing actions. To this one there is danger, to that one there is good.
Finally, he will sit alone, as one who easily does not find an equal, endowed with exceptional rewards; and he will be silent, at rest from all worldly worries and pleasures; and he will devote himself to divine oracles, which are accustomed to be revealed to those who sit alone, like the holy David, who says: For it is you alone who established me in hope (Psalm 4:10). And indeed, he did not sit alone in secret, but he presided over the people; nevertheless, he excelled in singular grace. Elijah was sitting alone, when an angel, with even crows bringing him food, was being nourished (1 Kings 17:6 and 19:7). He was alone not only secluded from the crowds, but also separated from the merits of many. Finally, divine revelations were shining upon him, the fruit of which he obtained as a reward; for from his youth he thought it necessary to take on the yoke of the word, and not to be dragged down by sins with a long rope any longer.
This younger man, by taking off in his youth the yoke of speech, not yet perfected, and still younger, separating himself from the conversations of his peers, which often corrupt good morals, and wanting to avoid the influence of sinners; in this way, he understands to sit and be silent, so that he does not falter due to the ease of his young age: but he directs his attention to the teachings of the elders, the oracles of the prophets, and the teachings of the apostles: he is praiseworthy because he prefers to know what he should speak before actually saying it; before learning to speak, he fears contracting sin due to excessive talk. I think that Pythagoras, that philosopher, imitated the youth of this prophet in establishing a sect, so that his disciples would learn to speak with such silence for five years; especially since it is certain that David, who was older than Pythagoras, said: I said, I will take heed to my ways, so that I do not sin with my tongue. I set a guard to my mouth (Psalm 39:2). And because perhaps he had spoken something carelessly at some time; therefore, he asked God to set a guard to his mouth afterwards. Who would not know that Pythagoras was before the Pythagoreans? When he heard this, he cried out (Isaiah 40:6); he would not have cried out before he heard what he should cry out. For he answered: What shall I cry out (Ibid.)? And it was said to him: All flesh is grass, and all its glory, like the flower of the field. The grass withers and the flower falls; but the word of the Lord remains forever (Ibid., 6-8); and he cried out with prophetic voice.
Therefore, both young men are to be praised: the former, however, is late, while the latter is cautious; the former is content with himself and never alone, while the latter embraces the beautiful discipline of quietness in his youthful years; not yet abundant in himself, but fearing to trust himself to others; still seeking to gather from youth what will benefit both himself and his neighbors in old age, lest it be said to him: 'What you did not gather in your youth, how will you find in your old age?' (Sirach 25:5). So if he sits in a council of elders, he will bring his hand to his mouth; in order to listen to opinions, and to preserve for himself a more mature age: just as Mary pondered all these things in her heart when hearing the words of Christ (Luke 2:51); just as John, when reclining his head on the chest of the Lord Jesus, drank in the deep secrets of wisdom (John 13:25).
7. Here is a young man who corrected his ways in his youth. He was a fisherman with his brother; he saw the Lord Jesus, when he was folding his nets, and he heard him saying: Come . . . . and I will make you fishers of men . . . . and leaving his nets and his father, he followed him (Matt. IV, 19 and 20). He had begun to walk the path of the world: but upon hearing the commands of Christ, he forsook the life of the world and followed Christ: he proved that in Christ he corrected his ways, if he keeps Christ's words, saying to him: Let us love your breasts more than wine (Song of Solomon I, 1). However, he drank in such a way that he was not overcome by wine; rather, he drank for the purpose of tasting the joy of his heart, not staggering from the intoxication of his body. In the end, after drinking this wine, he opened his eyes and saw the straight path, abandoning the winding roads, saying: 'Righteousness has loved you' (Ibid., 3); that is, it is not twisted paths that follow you, but only the path of justice can lead to you. For whoever loves justice does not turn away from Christ. For how can an innocent conscience fear the judge of justice and the rewarder of merits?
In this way, as this young man corrected his path, he witnessed great mysteries which, in the Song of Songs, the holy Solomon, filled with the spirit of the Lord, revealed. Imagine the Lord Jesus reclining at the banquet, with John leaning against his chest, amazed that a servant would recline above the Lord, that the sinful flesh would rest above the temple of the Word, that the soul, bound by the chains of the flesh, would contemplate the court of divine fullness. Therefore, to those who were marveling, the soul of John responds: I am dark, and beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem (Song of Songs 1:4); dark due to sin, beautiful by grace. And the flesh says: I am dark, and beautiful; dark with the dust of the world, which I have gathered by struggling: beautiful with the spiritual oil, with which I have wiped away the dust and filth of this world. Dark due to vice: but now beautiful through the bath, which washes away all sins. I am dark because I have sinned: beautiful, because Christ now loves me: whom he had cast away in Eve, he received again in the Virgin, he took up from Mary.
9. The Synagogue also speaks, whose mysteries seem to be expressed here for most people: which, when it saw itself rejected on account of the impiety of the whole people, still comforted itself; because it saw Christ himself from its own people, and Peter and John and James, adhering to Christ, who had the words entrusted to him; and therefore it said: I am dark and beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem; dark through disbelief, beautiful through the Law: dark through the fall; beautiful, because the sun that is my love has loved me, and I have become the congregation of God beforehand. Do not reject me because I am dark; I am dark because the sun has abandoned me, who used to enlighten me before; I have lost the color of my face; the sharpness of my eyes, with which I used to see the sun, has become dull: I walk in darkness, because I do not know the day of Christ. Yet, do not despise me; for the one who has abandoned me can look upon me again, have mercy on me once more. He is accustomed to gathering the dispersed, seeking out the deserted, gathering the destitute. All the tribes of Israel gather, behold me adorned before the beloved: Do not look at me, for I am obscured (Ibid., 5); that is, not only do you look, because I am obscured. The sun does not look at me, and therefore I am obscured. But the sun shines on the just and the unjust: on the just through grace, on the unjust through mercy; giving to the former the reward of merits, forgiving to the latter their sins. And it did not shine on the Gentiles before, now it shines: now it rises for them who rose for me; who forgives them, will also forgive me. Do not think that because I am overshadowed, the sun has completely abandoned me, and now does not look at me, does not inquire about my condition. He has hidden from me because I have not kept his commandments; he will be reconciled when he sees repentance for my sins. The sun has not seen me because I did not receive him when he came; I did not open the windows for the light of life to enter. When I open, he will enlighten my eyes, who came to enlighten the whole world, and even to make the blind see.
10. The sons of my mother fought against me, they made me a keeper in the vineyards. I did not keep my own vineyard. Some people think that this is said about those who bind the Synagogue with the precepts of the Law, that they may keep the Law and protect their own vineyard, which they were not able to keep. Finally, he was keeping it in order to produce grapes, but he produced thorns. Therefore, what is the vineyard? David came to testify to us, saying: You have transplanted the vineyard from Egypt, you have cast out the nations, and you have planted it (Psalm 79:9). The apostles can also be understood as sons of their mother, who truly fought against the Synagogue, saying: Indeed, we turn to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46); and they began to spread the word of God among the nations. The prophets can also be understood, who by warning and denouncing, were not successful in preserving their vineyard, the Synagogue. For it produced thorns of wickedness, which should have borne abundant fruits of virtue. And therefore it confesses that it could not guard its own people; and meritiously it seeks late to retain whom it lost while holding him: far dissimilar to her who says: I have found him whom my soul loves, I held him, and I will not let him go (Song of Songs 3:4).
11. Finally, she invites her Bridegroom into her garden; when she seeks for this, she says to Him: Announce to me whom my soul has loved (Song of Songs 1:6). Why do you say whom my soul has loved, and not whom my soul loves? Why did you let go of the one you were holding? You loved with the faith of the fathers, you lost with unbelief: you held on with the bonds of love, you lost with the long rope of treachery. Therefore, you do not know where He feeds, where He remains; for if you knew, you would not seek. For you say: Where do you feed? Where do you stay at noon? You know that noon is the Church, which holds Christ: and do you seek him in the nights? Say, Christ, answer me either because you were dear and beloved to me before: although I have lost the privilege of such love; nevertheless, answer me as if you were pious: Where do you feed? Where do you stay? You abandoned me, you went away to the nations: you went far away from me; and you have become closer to them, from whom you were far away; but you have become close, because they have believed in your blood: you went away from me; because I did not accept your cross, for the redemption of the world, but for the condemnation of the guilty. But those who receive you, Lord, as the author of salvation, are at midday. You shine for them, you glow for them, you burn with your grace for them, like the midday sun. To me, you were the morning, when I was still a believer but not a fully committed one, because I had not yet reached midday, like Joseph with his brothers who dined at midday. You became their midday, those who feed on your riches and trust in you. As David said, 'You will bring forth their justice like the light, and their judgement like the midday sun.' (Psalm 37:6)
So you seek as if foreign what you were just about to be close to: as if poor, what you were rich in. You desire to follow those whom you used to precede; and I wish you would even follow those whom you were obliged to precede! You want to become a hired servant, whom you used to gather before the hired servants. Surely the voice of one saying these things is that of a hired servant: ‘Lest I become encircled and overshadowed by the flocks of your companions.’ (Cant. 1, 6) What you used to accept before as proselytes from the nations, now you yourself wish to be received among the nations as proselyte, and to be gathered as a stranger.
13. Jesus answered: Unless you know your own worth among women. What does it mean to know oneself, if not to know that each person is made in the image and likeness of God, capable of reason, and should cultivate their own land like a good farmer with a certain plow and the sickle of wisdom, so that the tough weeds are cut down and the thriving ones are pruned, and who should govern the lower part of their soul with reason? Hence it is also written in the Law: Take heed to yourself, lest there be a hidden word in your heart. He says to you, pay attention, not to your money, not to your possessions, not to your physical strength: but to your soul and your mind; from where all counsel, actions, and thoughts flow. Therefore, pay attention to yourself there, where you know yourself to be more important. Know yourself, which the ancient men assign to Apollo Pythius, as if he himself was the author of this saying; when in fact they have taken it from ours and transferred it to their own, and Moses who wrote the book of Deuteronomy was long before the philosophers who invented these things.
14. Therefore, Solomon, following divine inspiration, wrote in the Song of Songs: Unless you recognize your worth among women (Song of Songs 1:7); that is, unless you acknowledge yourself as mortal, rational, and confess your sins, quickly confess your iniquities in order to be justified; unless you turn back and accuse your previous offenses, the day of death will come, and there will be no remedy for conversion: you will be overtaken when you do not expect it. Ignite your torch before the door of the Bridegroom is closed to you, who does not usually wait long for the negligent. If you do not know, it says, a beautiful woman among women; and you may say: I am dusky and beautiful (Song of Songs 1:4): dusky am I, because I have sinned; but beautiful, because I am loved, because I am of the lineage of Abraham, a chosen lineage, beloved by God: the favor of your fathers will profit you nothing; for God is able to raise up children of Abraham from these stones. And elsewhere in the Gospel you have read (Luke 13:11-13), how the devil of wickedness bound the daughter of Abraham with his chains, whom the Lord loosed on the Sabbath day. Unless, therefore, you know yourself, it will be of no benefit to you. And if you say, 'I am the daughter of Abraham,' but you do not believe, and you do not correct your error, Abraham indeed is saved, but the nobility of your lineage will not help you unless faith saves you. Do not let the promise given to the fathers deceive you. I do not accept the person of a man, I do not accept the prerogative of a lineage; unless I see a nobility of character congruent with the lineage, so that a just choice of lineage may be made.
15. But if you know yourself, and acknowledge that you are subject to sin; you must go among the heels of the flock. Therefore, go forth barefoot, and feed your kids in the tents of the shepherds (Song of Solomon 1:7). He who is without sin feeds, he feeds the sheep. But she who is subject to sin feeds the kids on the left; for she cannot be on the right of the good shepherd. Let her rather follow him who says to Peter: Get behind me, Satan (Mark 8:33). Following Peter, he deserved to be placed on the right hand; and therefore it is said to him: Feed my lambs (John 21:16). But listen to where he goes: To the tents, he says, of the shepherds; that is, to the nations, to the dispersion. And therefore it is said: Strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed (Zechariah 13:7); so that the whole world may be filled with the flock of Christ, signifying that the Synagogue will then be saved, when it joins itself to this dispersion, which has filled the world; for the tents of the shepherds are the kingdoms of the earth. Therefore, the prophet David, announcing the nations that would believe, says: "Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God" (Psalm 67:33). Therefore, let the younger generation know, so they may correct their ways.
16. But you say: Who can know the way of youth, so as to correct it; when the Prophet says: There are three things that are too wonderful for me, and a fourth that I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a young woman (Prov. 30:18-19). If Solomon confesses that he does not understand the ways of a man in his youth, how can a young person know? To this it will be answered that those ways of a man in his youth are not known, which are different from the ways of an eagle in the sky, and different from the path of a ship on the high seas, and the footprints of a flying eagle, which has rough claws, captures prey, and flies above the clouds, wanders in the air, and kills fish in the sea; and yet this fourth thing is not impossible, like those three; for the Lord knows those who are his own, and He desires that each one knows himself, that the people of God know themselves.
17. But let them not be known the ways of the erring, as the Lord says: I do not know you, depart from me, workers of iniquity (Luke 13:27): but let this younger one who can correct his own way, perhaps be younger in age, not in character; and let him have in the prime of his youth an old man's intellect, of which it is said: But grey hairs are wisdom to men (Wisdom 4:8), to whom maturity of counsel and gravity are abundant. And hence it is said to Jeremiah: Do not say that I am young (Jer. I, 7). And indeed he was young in age; but he prohibits him from saying that he is young, who had a more mature wisdom. When Daniel was a boy, he received the spirit by which he was deemed worthy of the first fruits of old age; so as to rebuke the old men themselves not by their long life, but by their grace; for in him was the age of old age an immaculate life (Dan. XIII, 45). To whom it suits well to say that Davidic phrase: I have understood more than the elders (Psalms 118:100). Therefore, as if by divine oracle, he pronounced it about a veteran advice and an old man's wisdom: Who is wiser than Daniel (Ezek. XXVIII, 3)?
18. Now let us consider this: is it possible for a younger person to correct their own way, or not? If it is not possible, then the Prophet is lying. But because the Prophet is not lying, it is possible. However, it is possible in such a way that what appears impossible becomes possible if the younger person keeps the words of God. But if they do not keep them, it is impossible. Hence the saying in the Gospel: It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:24). In this book also it is said to be impossible, but we understand that it is impossible because the rich do not keep God's commandments; but if they keep them, what seemed impossible becomes possible. This is the camel that enters through the narrow gate; the gate that could not hold him when he desired it, now holds him when he keeps the divine commandments. But he keeps the words of God, because he kept them, Moses, as a wise man, chose him as an elder (Exodus 7:1); and now those who are entrusted with this office by the Spirit of God, to choose elder men, undoubtedly choose among the elders a young man who corrects his own ways, in keeping the words of God. And if they have chosen a man of senior age, they have not chosen him as an old man, but as one who guards the words of God. And if such a person is found among the younger, he must certainly be chosen. It is clear therefore from these things that it is not the length of old age that is chosen, but the guarding of the words of God. Finally, Moses himself approved Jesus and Caleb as young men above the others, whose counsel in the choice of the land, rather than that of many older men, he followed, and God preferred.
19. And thus that which we have said above concerning Jacob: God, who has shepherded me from my youth (Gen. 48:15), manifests to us a statement about him who has taken upon himself the yoke of the word in his youth (Lam. 3:27-28), and departing from Esau and his kindred, he sits alone, awaiting the time when he can bring forth discourse with discipline; and therefore he is nourished with spiritual food, still full of years but seasoned with wisdom. For it is not worthy for us to believe that such a great patriarch spoke about physical food: God who feeds me from my youth; for he did not desire bodily bread when he said: If the Lord God is with me, to give me food to eat, and clothing to wear... of all that you give me, I will give a tenth to you (Genesis 28:20-22). For if our fathers ate spiritual food and drank spiritual drink, how much more did the holy Jacob feed on spiritual food!
20. Moreover, that understanding also applies in this place, and it is not contrary to the truth; because that younger person, from the gathering of the Gentiles, who before he believed in Christ, was wandering in a twisted path; corrects his way in it because he has kept the words of God, which the Jewish people did not want to keep; and therefore that person could not find the way of salvation. Let us also consider the following verse.
21. (Verse 10.) With all my heart I have sought you; do not reject me from your commandments. If God rejects everyone whom he considers worthy of rejection, let us see if he gives any excuse to the one who wanted to follow God but was rejected. And first, how does a good God reject someone who is following, unless they themselves deserve to be rejected? Just as the Lord himself says: Foxes have dens (Matthew 8:28); and therefore he rejects them like a fox. And elsewhere: For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away (Matthew 25:29). To whom does he add, unless it be one who seeks him with all his heart; so that what is lacking in nature, he may acquire through the operation of God and by grace? Like Solomon, who sought God with all his heart, he asked for wisdom: and because he did not seek royal riches for himself, but rather the gift of divine grace, he deserved to receive the discipline of wisdom: he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord, so that he might know all the commandments (3 Kings 11 and 12). But whoever does not have it in his heart to seek the Lord, and indeed does the work of God but does so negligently, is subject to a curse, as we read: 'Cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord deceitfully' (Jeremiah 48:10). Therefore, he is deservedly repelled because he is worthy of a curse, because he pollutes more and hinders the work which he thoughtlessly considered to be carried out.